The Essence of Easter

Jesu Juva

St. John 20:19-31                                               

April 12, 2026

Easter 2A                                         

 Dear saints of our Savior~

        Alleluia! Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

        The resurrection of Jesus is too big to be tamed. It can’t be confined to just one day per year.  As most of you know, the resurrection is the reason we gather here on every first day of the week.  Every Sunday is an Easter celebration.  Our Lord’s resurrection appearances continue here in His church, bringing us paschal peace and joy.

        In fact, today’s Holy Gospel reading takes us right back to Easter Sunday.  Last week we traveled with the women to the tomb and listened to an angel with an attitude announcing that Jesus is risen.  We were there at dawn on the first day of resurrection.  Today’s gospel reading takes us to the evening of that same day—to ten men cowering behind locked doors.  Judas was dead and gone; and Thomas was famously absent.  Twelve minus two is ten.

        Ten wounded men were trembling behind locked doors. These were ten terrorized, traumatized men—men wounded by what they had witnessed on Friday.  There they saw the Lord they loved brutalized and tortured and executed.  Or did they see it?  It seems most of them didn’t.  This is why they were wounded with shame and sorrow for what they had done—for their sin—for how they had abandoned Jesus and even denied knowing Him.  These disciples were all faithless failures.  They had treated their Lord with contempt and cowardice.  They chose the path of self-preservation; as Jesus went the way of self-sacrifice.  And so there were ten—ten wounded men.

        But then Jesus came and stood among them!  Had there been a knock at the door?  Did He come in through a window?  No, Jesus simply stood among them and said: Peace be with you.  And with those words, Jesus showed them His wounded hands and side.  Jesus could have scolded them—could have rebuked them.  He could have shamed them for their sin.  Jesus could have said, "See what you did to me!"  But Jesus says:  See what I did for you.  Those are the scars of your salvation.  By those wounds you are healed.

        With His words and wounds the Lord Jesus forgave His disciples.  He absolved them.  He remembered their sin no more.  And then, something totally unexpected: He breathed on them!  Most of us don’t aspire to be breathed on.  I don’t care to inhale what you’re exhaling.  But this—this is the good breath of Jesus.  This is God’s good breath that goes back to the Garden of Eden, when the Lord breathed into Adam the breath of life.  Jesus now breathes on these men the breath of resurrection life—the peace of sin forgiven.

        Receive the Holy Spirit, He says.  If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.  Of all the topics Jesus might have raised that day. Of all the orders He might have given.  The risen Christ has one thing on His mind:  the forgiveness of sins.  This is the essence of Easter.  This is the enduring result of the resurrection—the defining doctrine of Christianity—that those called and sent by the Lord Jesus should forgive the sins of all who are penitent—in His stead and by His command.

        Do you believe it?  Do you believe that the Risen Christ is here to forgive you?  Do you believe that the absolution spoken by your pastor is not your pastor’s opinion—but is from God Himself? And that by it your sins are forgiven before God in heaven?  Your pastor has orders from the risen Christ to forgive sins.  Here I stand; I can do no other.  If we really believed that, we would run to the Divine Service.  If we really believed that, people would be lined up outside, waiting for our doors to be unlocked.  If we really believed that, then we would let nothing stand in the way of confessing our sins and receiving absolution.  For by that absolution, the very gates of heaven are unlocked. 

        Of course, we don’t always or fully believe this.  What we do mistakenly believe is that our sins aren’t really that bad. And that the world is filled with people who are much worse than us.  We believe that we have learned and grown from our sins.  And we only had the best of intentions—and the best possible rationale for doing what we did.  And isn’t the main thing that we learn to forgive ourselves?

        Let me be clear:  No, it isn’t.  Sin is never a teachable moment or a lesson to be learned or an opportunity for growth.  The only remedy for our sin comes from the words and wounds of Jesus.  The only solution for our sin is holy absolution.  Jesus Christ wasn’t crucified and resurrected so that you can deal with sin on your terms!  But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

        This truth about sin and forgiveness isn’t something that just gets tacked onto Easter as an afterthought.  This is the essence of Easter.  This is the peace brought to us each week by the Risen Christ.  He comes here to heal your wounds by the power of His wounds.  He comes to fill your heart with paschal peace and Easter joy.

        This is what our liturgy teaches us right after the consecration of the bread and wine.  At that exact moment comes the sacred exchange we call the Pax Domini—the Peace of the Lord.  You will see it and hear it in just a few moments.  The pastor takes the bread that is the body of Christ.  He takes the cup which is filled with the blood of Christ.  He elevates that heavenly food and drink and dares to declare:  The peace of the Lord be with you always.

        Beloved in the Lord, that is not a throw-away line.  That’s not filler.  That is the essence of Easter!  Jesus Christ risen from the dead, bringing you His perfect peace and the forgiveness of your sin, which He earned by His suffering and death.  Here the resurrection appearances of Jesus continue.  Here at this altar—here through time and space—the risen Lord comes with His words and His wounds to bring you peace that passes understanding.

        This is why you should never miss church.  Never pass up the opportunity to receive the risen Lord.  Just look what happened to Thomas!  He wasn’t there.  He missed it.  For Thomas there were no words and no wounds, no peace and no joy, no Jesus and no faith.  We call him “doubting” Thomas; but his real problem wasn’t doubt; it was unbelief!  Unless I see it and touch it . . . I will never believe it.  Thomas was the man who missed Easter and the results were terrible and toxic.

        One week later—the next Sunday—the Risen Christ returns for the sake of Thomas—who was dear to Jesus, and loved by Jesus, and precious to Jesus—just like you.  Be not faithless, Thomas; only believe!  Thomas could only conclude that this was the real deal, the genuine Jesus. No ghost.  No apparition.  Flesh and bone, body and blood:  My Lord and my God!

        On that very first Sunday after Easter, Jesus came back for the sake of Thomas.  On this Sunday after Easter, Jesus comes back for your sake.  He comes for you with His Words and His wounds.  His wounded hands and side for Thomas; His holy body and blood for you in the Lord’s Supper.  This is the ongoing, enduring, unending essence of Easter.

        Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.  That’s you!  Blessed are you on this second Sunday of Easter, that you believe Christ is risen from the dead.  Blessed are you, for you will see soon enough.  The peace of the Lord be with you always!

        In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.